Exhibit 10.10

                 AMENDMENT NO. 9 TO LOAN AND SECURITY AGREEMENT

                             WILLIAMS SCOTSMAN, INC.
                             8211 Town Center Drive
                            Baltimore, Maryland 21236



                                January 31, 1997


Congress Financial Corporation
1133 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036

Gentlemen:

          Congress Financial  Corporation,  a California  corporation  (together
with its  successors  and  assigns,  "Lender")  and Williams  Scotsman,  Inc., a
Maryland corporation (together with its successors and assigns, "Borrower") have
entered into certain  financing  arrangements  pursuant to the Loan and Security
Agreement,  dated as of December  16,  1993,  between  Lender and  Borrower,  as
amended pursuant to Amendment No. 1 to Loan and Security  Agreement,  dated June
15, 1994, Amendment No. 2 to Loan and Security Agreement,  dated as of September
14, 1994, Amendment No. 3 to Loan and Security Agreement,  dated March 24, 1995,
Amendment No. 4 to Loan and Security Agreement,  dated as of March 28, 1995, and
Amendment  No. 5 to Loan and  Security  Agreement,  dated as of August 1,  1995,
Amendment  No. 6 to Loan and Security  Agreement,  dated as of October 13, 1995,
Amendment No. 7 to Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of January 30, 1996 and
Amendment  No. 8 to Loan and Security  Agreement,  dated  September 30, 1996 (as
amended hereby and as the same may be further amended,  modified,  supplemented,
extended, renewed, restated or replaced, the "Loan Agreement", and together with
all agreements,  documents and instruments at any time executed and/or delivered
in  connection  therewith  or  related  thereto,  collectively,  the  "Financing
Agreements").

          Borrower has requested  that the line of credit  provided by Lender to
Borrower be increased and various other  amendments to the Loan  Agreement,  and
Lender is willing to agree to such increase and other amendments, subject to the
terms and conditions  contained herein.  By this Amendment,  Lender and Borrower
desire and intend to evidence such amendment.

          In  consideration  of the foregoing and the  agreements  and covenants
contained herein, the parties hereto agree as follows:

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          1. Definitions.

               1.1.  Additional  Definition.  "Amendment  No. 9" shall mean this
Amendment  No. 9 to Loan and  Security  Agreement  by and between  Borrower  and
Lender.

               1.2.  Amendments to Definition.

                    (a) All references to the term  "Acquisition  Loan Limit" in
the Loan Agreement or any of the other Financing Agreements shall be deemed, and
each such reference is hereby  amended to mean the amount equal to  $110,000,000
or such lesser amount then in effect with respect thereto  pursuant to the terms
of Sections 2.6 or 2.7 of the Loan Agreement.

                    (b) All references to the term "Maximum  Credit" in the Loan
Agreement or any of the other  Financing  Agreements  shall be deemed,  and each
such  reference is hereby  amended to mean the amount equal to  $140,000,000  or
such lesser amount then in effect with respect thereto  pursuant to the terms of
Sections 2.6 or 2.7 of the Loan Agreement.

               1.3.  Interpretation.   All  capitalized   terms  used  in  this
Amendment,  unless otherwise defined herein,  shall have the respective meanings
assigned thereto in the Loan Agreement.

          2.  Sublimits.   Sections  2.6(d)(ii)  and  2.6(d)(iii)  of  the  Loan
Agreement are hereby  deleted in their  entirety and the  following  substituted
therefor:

                "(ii) in no event shall the  Working  Capital  Loan  Limit,  the
         Acquisition  Loan  Limit or the Swing Loan  Limit  exceed  $20,000,000,
         $110,000,000 or $10,000,000, respectively, and

                (iii) in the event of an  increase in the  Maximum  Credit,  the
         corresponding increases in the Working Capital Loan Limit,  Acquisition
         Loan Limit and the Swing Loan Limit  shall be in such  amounts so as to
         maintain the same  proportion of each such limit to the Maximum  Credit
         as in effect on the date of Amendment No. 9."

         3. Name Change.  Borrower  hereby  confirms to Lender that Borrower has
changed its name from "The Scotsman Group, Inc." to "Williams  Scotsman,  Inc.,"
effective  as of  January 1, 1997 and all  references  to  Borrower  in the Loan
Agreement and the other Financing  Agreements shall refer to Williams  Scotsman,
Inc., a Maryland  corporation,  formerly known as The Scotsman Group,  Inc., and
its successors and assigns.

          4. Line Increase Fee. In  consideration  of the  amendments  set forth
herein,  Borrower  shall  pay to  Lender a line  increase  fee in the  amount of
$25,000, which fee shall be fully earned and payable as of the date hereof.

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          5.  Conditions  Precedent  for  Amendment.  The  effectiveness  of the
amendments  contained herein shall be subject to the satisfaction of each of the
following, in a manner satisfactory to Lender and its counsel:

               5.1. Lender  shall   have   received,   in  form   and  substance
satisfactory  to Lender,  evidence  that  Borrower and Mobile have  obtained all
required consents or approvals of any persons other than Lender to the terms and
conditions provided for herein;

               5.2. Lender shall have received  this Amendment No. 9 to Loan and
Security  Agreement  duly  authorized,  executed  and  delivered  by the parties
hereto; and

               5.3. no Event of Default,  or event,  act or condition which with
notice or passage of time or both would  constitute  an Event of Default,  shall
exist or have occurred.

          6. Effect of this Amendment.  Except as modified  pursuant hereto,  no
other  changes or  modifications  to the  Financing  Agreements  are intended or
implied,  and  in  all  other  respects  the  Financing  Agreements  are  hereby
specifically  ratified,  restated and confirmed by all parties  hereto as of the
effective  date  hereof.  To the extent of  conflict  between  the terms of this
Amendment and the other Financing Agreements,  the terms of this Amendment shall
control.  The Loan Agreement and this  Amendment  shall be read and construed as
one agreement.

          7. Further  Assurances.  The parties  hereto shall execute and deliver
such additional documents and take such additional action as may be necessary or
desirable to effectuate the provisions and purposes of this Amendment.

          8. Governing Law. The rights and obligations  hereunder of each of the
parties hereto shall be governed by and interpreted and determined in accordance
with the internal  laws (as opposed to the conflicts of law  provisions)  of the
State of New York.

          9. Binding  Effect.  This Amendment shall be binding upon and inure to
the benefit of each of the parties  hereto and their  respective  successors and
assigns.

          10. Headings.  The headings listed herein are for convenience only and
do not constitute matters to be construed in interpreting this Letter Agreement.

          11.  Counterparts.  This  Amendment  may be  executed in any number of
counterparts, but all of such counterparts shall together constitute but one and
the same agreement. In making proof of this Amendment, it shall not be necessary


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to produce or account for more than one  counterpart  thereof  signed by each of
the parties hereto.

          Please sign the enclosed  counterpart  of this  Amendment in the space
provided below, whereupon this Amendment, as so accepted by Lender, shall become
a binding agreement between Borrow and Lender.

                                         Very truly yours,

                                         WILLIAMS SCOTSMAN, INC.



                                         By:    /s/ Gerald E. Keefe
                                                --------------------------------
                                                Gerald E. Keefe
                                         Title: Vice President Fleet & Finance


AGREED:

CONGRESS FINANCIAL CORPORATION


By:    /s/ Lawrence S. Forte
       -----------------------------
       Lawrence S. Forte
Title: Vice President


ACKNOWLEDGED AND AGREED:

MOBILE FIELD OFFICE COMPANY


By:    /s/ John B. Ross
       ------------------------------
       John B. Ross
Title: Secretary


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